Tag Archives | Spotify

Spotify’s Little Facebook Privacy Tweak is a Big Deal

Spotify is giving users an option to turn off automatic Facebook sharing, for all those times you want to jam out to Kenny G without everyone knowing.

As Business Insider reports, “Private Listening” disables Facebook’s new “Add to Timeline” feature, which automatically shares users’ listening habits with their Facebook friends. Private listening does nothing for people who haven’t opted into sharing with Add to Timeline, but for users who usually want to share, this option allows them to temporarily go dark.

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6 Questions About Spotify’s U.S. Launch

Subscription music service Spotify has announced that it will finally be launching in the United States — at some point. The company, which is known overseas for streaming millions of ad-supported songs on demand at no charge, provided hardly any details on its U.S. plans. Spotify simply confirmed the news and started a sign-up process for invites.

Naturally, that leaves a lot of unanswered questions. Here’s what I’d most like to know about Spotify’s U.S. launch:

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Spotify’s Ship is Sailing

CNet’s Greg Sandoval has an update on Spotify, the music service best known for streaming free, ad-supported songs.

Although Spotify debuted in Europe two years ago, the service has yet to launch in the United States. Record labels are worried that Spotify can’t convert enough people to its premium subscription plan, and that its free version would cut into iTunes and other a la carte download services. As a kind of insurance against cannibalization, record labels want to charge Spotify a premium for licensing.

Now, Sandoval reports, Spotify will miss its promised 2010 launch, and Daniel Ek, the company’s founder and chief executive, won’t commit to a later date. No major labels have licensed music to Spotify in the United States.

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